My last days in London are a bit of a blur. I returned to the hostel near Regent’s Park where I’d been staying before, but I decided to splurge on a single room. What I didn’t realize was that the room was in a completely different building, but I still had to return to the main one to use my free meal voucher. Epic fail when you’re unwell and must walk 10 minutes in the cold just to get food.

However, it was a good idea to splash out on a single room as it came with a small fridge, sink and all the privacy I’d become accustomed to at Ross and Gill’s place. I still had to use shared shower and toilets, but I barely ran into anyone in the halls let alone in the bathroom.

I spent my last few days in London reading books in blissful isolation. When I ventured outside, it was to take a stroll through one of London’s many parks or go to a museum. I finally got around to visiting the Natural History Museum, which was very impressive and had incredible exhibits for adults and children. On another day, I walked around Notting Hill and browsed Portobello Road. Most of all, I just took in the atmosphere of the city by walking through different neighborhoods and stopping at local cafes and shops for food.

I must admit that after being on the road alone for so long, I was suffering from a bit of travel fatigue and feeling burned out. I was not motivated to look into tours or figure out how to get outside of the city to visit places like Oxford. While I know it’s not necessary to be up and doing things all the time, it felt like a waste of time paying for food and accommodation but not really seeing much of England. However, I figured I’d just have to come back to see the rest of the country another time.

The day before my flight out of England, I transferred to a hostel that was closer to the bus stop for the shuttle taking me to Gatwick Airport. Because my flight was extremely early in the morning, it was still dark when I checked out of the hostel. Surprisingly, there were actually heaps of other people waiting when I got to the bus stop. Within a few short hours, I was on the plane and saying goodbye to England.

It might be different if I had a travel companion so all the decisions weren’t left on my shoulders. On the other hand, traveling with someone means compromising what you want to do at least some of the time. I suppose you can’t have it both ways LOL

My secret is traveling with people who are laid back and follow you wherever you go – Uncle, A. Pat, A. Bobbie, my girlfriend Bev. The downside is you make all the decisions and that can eventually stress you out.

I don’t think many of my friends would choose to travel the way I do anyway. They’d want to stay in a flash hotel and eat at nice restaurants every day. That’s ok if you’re only traveling for a short time and have saved a year’s worth of holiday time and vacation money, but it’s not realistic if you’re doing it long term. It’s probably better to be on my own in that sense. Haha